In the past week in Trump’s world, the US president stormed out of an NBC interview, appeared to have been caught napping at the New York Knicks game and in the Middle East, Israel and Iran exchanged missiles in a move that further threatened the fragile ceasefire. President Trump has tried to assert a sense of control over events in the Middle East, telling reporters that he “calls the shots” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have to accept any deal he strikes. But, as Israel ...
Jun 09, 2026•37 min
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu had a very tense and fraught conversation on the phone - that much is clear, but did the US president really tell the Israeli prime minister that nobody likes him or his country and call him ‘f***ing crazy’ as Axios reported? On this episode of TrumpWorld, Matt Frei and Anushka Asthana explore the fallout from this explosive call and ask what it means for the war in Iran and Israel’s long term relationship with America. Matt Frei also speaks to Israeli journal...
Jun 02, 2026•41 min
Tensions between the United States and Iran have entered an unstable holding pattern, with fresh American strikes on Iranian missile sites and patrol boats near the Strait of Hormuz, and Tehran reportedly shooting down a US drone, fuelling renewed uncertainty across the region. In this episode of TrumpWorld, Anushka Asthana and Lindsey Hilsum examine the latest escalation, from President Trump’s shifting negotiating tactics to his revived Abraham Accords pitch, and what this strategic brinkmansh...
May 26, 2026•34 min
Donald Trump’s approval ratings have hit a new low amid anger over the Iran war and soaring gas prices - raising fresh fears for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. In this episode of TrumpWorld Anushka Asthana speaks to former US congressman Beto O'Rourke, who also ran to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020 and he warns that the mid-terms “will decide the future of the country” and that if Trump wins “it;s game over”. Channel 4 News’ Kiran Moodley also joined Anushka to disc...
May 19, 2026•54 min
Donald Trump has arrived in Beijing for the first US presidential visit to China in nearly a decade - but it’s his comments on Iran that are dominating headlines. Asked whether Americans’ financial struggles were influencing his negotiations with Iran, Trump gave a strikingly blunt answer: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.” The comments have sparked fresh questions about his priorities as tensions in the Middle East continue to rattle global market...
May 13, 2026•43 min
The first ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz as part of Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom”, a US-led operation to escort commercial ships after Iran’s blockade disrupted global oil supplies and stranded hundreds of vessels. Tehran has warned it will treat any unauthorised military presence in the strait as a hostile act, and America says there has been some ‘low level kinetic’ activity in the Strait - despite reports of renewed backchannel diplomacy. So is this a masterstroke from Trum...
May 05, 2026•40 min
Another assassination attempt on Donald Trump, relations between the president and Keir Starmer have hit rock bottom and the spectre of Jeffrey Epstein hanging over the White House and Buckingham Palace. King Charles III’s state visit to America is happening at one of the most turbulent periods to hit the so-called “special relationship”, and now the leaked footage obtained by the Financial Times appears to show the UK ambassador to the US Christian Turner saying that the only country to have a ...
Apr 28, 2026•30 min
Donald Trump has extended the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, but only for around 3-5 days the White House told Fox News. At the same time, Trump has maintained the naval blockade while unleashing fresh threats against Iran, as Tehran signals it will not back down. So, is there any hope for the peace negotiations? Or are we on the brink of a fresh round of military action? On this episode of TrumpWorld Matt Frei and Anushka Asthana are joined by former Pentagon official and Middle ...
Apr 22, 2026•44 min
Donald Trump says his war with Iran is “close to over” and there’s reports of more peace talks coming soon, but this isn’t the first time the US president has said an end to the war is imminent - so what’s actually going on? This comes off the back of a week where the president has picked a fight with the Pope, he then went on the attack against Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for cancelling a defence agreement with Israel and to top it off his other European ally, Viktor Orban of Hungary,...
Apr 15, 2026•27 min
It’s the morning after the night before - when - just 90 minutes before his deadline for Iran to unblock the Strait of Hormuz or “a whole civilisation will be destroyed”, President Trump announced a two week ceasefire. Iran has signed on and both sides have claimed victory. In this episode of TrumpWorld, Matt Frei discusses what we don’t know about the ceasefire and the control of the Strait of Hormuz with the Brookings Institution’s Suzanne Maloney, a leading voice on US policy on Iran, who’s a...
Apr 08, 2026•40 min
Donald Trump says the United States could be “out of Iran pretty quickly”, with the option of returning for “spot hits”, even as he escalates his criticism of Nato allies and questions America’s future in the alliance. His Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is amplifying that message despite having backed legal safeguards preventing a US exit from Nato only two years earlier. In this episode of TrumpWorld, Matt Frei and Anushka Asthana examine why this rupture feels different, how Trump’s frustrat...
Apr 01, 2026•45 min
As Israel and Iran exchange fresh attacks, President Donald Trump says a 15-point peace plan has been sent to Tehran via Pakistan and claims negotiations are underway. Iran publicly rejected Trump's proposal and said the US is negotiating with itself, but did respond with demands of its own. In this episode of TrumpWorld Matt Frei, in Jerusalem, and Anushka Asthana, in Washington, try to make sense of the contradictions. Is there really a diplomatic off-ramp - or is the US trying to calm markets...
Mar 25, 2026•46 min
In week three of the Iran war, Donald Trump faces the consequences of a campaign he believed he could control. As Israel strikes the South Pars gas field and Tehran vows retaliation across the Gulf, the regional balance is shifting in real time. With turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz, a spiraling energy shock, and a widening conflict stretching into Lebanon, TrumpWorld asks one central question: What did Donald Trump think would happen, and does he now regret it? Matt Frei reports from Jerusalem w...
Mar 18, 2026•38 min
The Trump administration is sending a blizzard of mixed messages about the war in Iran; yesterday Trump insisted it was “pretty much” over - today U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that today would be the “most intense day of strikes inside Iran.” Behind the scenes, global markets are jolting, oil prices are surging and the White House appears to be scrambling to contain the political and economic fallout. This is a conflict Trump never fully explained, a war of choice launched with no cl...
Mar 10, 2026•42 min
As the war between Iran, Israel and the United States enters its fifth day, Donald Trump is facing mounting pressure as his MAGA base tears itself apart over his decision to launch another conflict in the Middle East despite his promises to end America’s “forever wars”. Trump has now hit out at influential MAGA voices like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly after they condemned the war and suggested Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu was the real driving force behind the decision to attack....
Mar 04, 2026•38 min
Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in American history, a two hour speech packed with dramatic claims, partisan attacks and a full political show of force. With approval ratings falling and Republicans increasingly anxious about the midterms, Trump used the moment to sell an economic turnaround and portray a country “winning again,” even as many of his assertions strained credibility. From repeated standing ovations by Republicans to a fiery confrontation with Democrat...
Feb 25, 2026•22 min
Cuba is in crisis. As severe fuel shortages disrupt daily life across the island, US President Donald Trump has declared Cuba is "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to US national security. The US president has cutting off the flow of Venezuelan oil to the island and threated to slap tariffs on any nation supplying Cuba with fuel. With no diesel to power collection trucks, rubbish is piling up across Havana. Extended blackouts are hitting homes, schools and hospitals, deepening what many descr...
Feb 18, 2026•46 min
The latest release of the Epstein files has triggered political and cultural shockwaves on both sides of the Atlantic. Millions of documents, new surveillance footage verified by Channel 4 News, and a growing list of players including some of the world’s most powerful people have raised urgent questions about influence, accountability, and why so many continued to orbit Jeffrey Epstein long after he became a convicted sex offender. In this episode of TrumpWorld, Anushka Asthana and Matt Frei bre...
Feb 11, 2026•36 min
It’s been a bruising week in TrumpWorld. Donald Trump is battling a fresh wave of Epstein headlines, walking back his ICE crackdown, and softening once-hard threats on Greenland and tariffs. Meanwhile, the cost-of-living crisis is still squeezing Americans, and unease is growing among his base: is this still ‘America First’ or is it becoming ‘America Fights’, as US military power looms over Iran?If a week is a long time in TrumpWorld, what could the next nine months bring? With the midterm elect...
Feb 04, 2026•38 min
Minneapolis has become the centre of a crisis that is reshaping American politics. After the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse described by friends as gentle and decent, the Trump administration has been forced into an unexpected shift. The video of his final moments has ignited protests across the city, unnerved Republican lawmakers facing the midterms, and exposed the scale of ICE’s new power under Trump. In today’s episode of TrumpWorld, Anushka Asthana reports from a frozen and fearful Mi...
Jan 28, 2026•46 min
Was Greenland ever just a punchline? Is Donald Trump now reshaping the Western alliance itself, one shock move at a time? He’s finally ruled out taking Greenland by force - but he wants to own it - and won’t take no for an answer. What happens if Europe refuses to bend? And is the damage already done to the transatlantic order as we know it? From an unprecedented showdown at Davos to record-breaking executive orders that have rewritten America’s map, Anushka Asthana and Chuck Todd break down a w...
Jan 21, 2026•36 min
Could Donald Trump order a strike that eliminates Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? With tensions between Washington and Tehran escalating and protests sweeping Iran, with thousands now killed, the idea of dramatic military action has moved from the fringes into serious debate. To help unpack the legal, strategic, and real-world implications of this scenario, we’re joined by Robert Malley, President Biden’s former Special Envoy for Iran. A key figure in U.S. diplomacy on Tehran and ...
Jan 14, 2026•40 min
Was Venezuela just the beginning? Is Donald Trump reshaping the global order, one country at a time? What happens to NATO if Greenland is next? And what would that mean in Ukraine? With the UK and France now promising boots on the ground if there’s a ceasefire, would the United States come to their defence if needed? From Nicolás Maduro in a beige jumpsuit to threats against NATO allies, Matt Frei and Anushka Asthana break down a week of jaw-dropping headlines that have upended the global rules ...
Jan 07, 2026•25 min
In a year where President Donald Trump arguably made more enemies than friends, we look back at who ended up on his naughty list, with Trump’s 12 “beefs” of Christmas. From escalating wars with MAGA over the Epstein files, to clashes with Europe over tariffs, Venezuela, migrants, the media, universities, and Elon Musk. Matt Frei and Anushka Asthana are together in London to look back at a turbulent year in TrumpWorld. They ask what these feuds reveal about how power works inside the administrati...
Dec 17, 2025•34 min
Has Donald Trump finally hit his peak? With fractures inside MAGA, an increasingly hostile rhetoric towards Europe, a new security strategy that has unsettled America’s closest allies and a new affordability crisis gripping the US - he may have done just that. This week on TrumpWorld, Anushka Asthana and Matt Frei take you inside a White House facing pressure both at home and abroad. Trump’s criticism of Europe has sparked anxiety among key allies, while a growing rebellion inside MAGA is beginn...
Dec 10, 2025•54 min
President Donald Trump has intensified his anti-immigration stance, pausing all immigration applications from 19 countries. On Tuesday he singled out Somali communities in remarks that have drawn widespread criticism from across the world. In this podcast, Anushka Asthana and Matt Frei break down what he said, why his crackdown on immigration has escalated over recent days, and why this rhetoric is driving deep anxiety among many Americans. We explore the political context, human consequences, a...
Dec 03, 2025•31 min
After three years of war, could a Ukraine peace plan really be within reach? In this episode of TrumpWorld, we break down President Trump’s controversial 28-point peace proposal and the shockwaves it’s sending through Kyiv, Europe and Moscow. We look closely at the security guarantees being floated, but at what cost for Ukraine? And will the new revelations from Witkoff’s Ukraine leaks jeopardise progress? Matt Frei also speaks with Fiona Hill, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and form...
Nov 26, 2025•50 min
Is Donald Trump preparing to take the U.S. to war with Venezuela? What is his gunboat diplomacy really aiming to accomplish and what could it mean for Maduro’s presidency? And as tensions hit a boiling point, a few days ago, America’s largest aircraft carrier was ominously sent to the region.In today’s episode, Matt Frei speaks with America’s former U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams to break down the motives, the risks, and the potential fallout.
Nov 19, 2025•42 min
A new tranche of Epstein emails have been released, exposing more details about one of the most notorious scandals in modern politics - and putting fresh pressure on Donald Trump. All this in the week that Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion for ‘defamatory’ statements, plunging the BBC into an existential crisis. On this week’s episode of TrumpWorld, Matt Frei and Anushka Asthana explore how the revelations are reverberating through Washington and Westminster, unpack what ...
Nov 12, 2025•38 min
Zohran Mamdani has just been elected the Mayor of New York in a victory hailed as a political earthquake. But what does the socialist democrat’s win mean for Donald Trump, and why does it matter so much to him? In this episode of TrumpWorld, Matt Frei and Anushka Asthana unpack the implications of Mamdani’s triumph with Dr. Christina Greer, political scientist and proud New Yorker.
Nov 05, 2025•47 min
